Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is among 18 Canadian theatre and performing arts organizations that have joined a “cultural and academic boycott” of Israel.
On Wednesday, Buddies — the world’s largest queer theatre company — and other organizations including Theatre Centre, Aluna Theatre and New Harlem Productions, said that they had collectively joined the international Palestinian Campaign for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel (PACBI). As part of the boycott, the organizations said they won’t accept funding from the Israeli state or any institutions that they say are complicit in the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories or other violations of international law.
The endorsement was organized by Theatre Artists for Palestinian Voices (TAPV).
In an email to the Star, ted witzel, the artistic director of Buddies since 2023, said: “(The violence in Gaza) has affected many members of our team deeply. We’ve tried to make Buddies a space for conversations and solidarity. We want to be part of a larger conversation about the way that art and cultural production are never apolitical.”
Witzel said that the decision to endorse the cultural boycott of Israel comes as the organization revises its values.
“Liberation means liberation for all,” witzel said. “There is no queer liberation without the liberation of Palestine.”
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, the Canadian arts sector has been embroiled in turmoil. Last fall, 1,000 writers and publishing professionals, including Canadians Miriam Toews, Rupi Kaur and Dionne Brand, signed an open letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions. In February, the Giller Prize ended its decades-long partnership with Scotiabank, following months of pressure from protesters, authors and publishers who pledged to boycott Canada’s most prestigious literary prize over its ties to Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer.
Natasha Greenblatt, a Toronto-based actor and playwright and organizer with TAPV, told the Star that joining the boycott entails material commitments. For example, theatres will not accept funding from organizations like the Azrieli Foundation, a Canadian philanthropic organization that supports a wide range of arts, culture and music programs, including the National Arts Centre, according to its website. The foundation is linked to Azrieli Group, an Israeli real estate company with holdings in the West Bank.
In a statement to the Star, a spokesperson for the Azrieli Foundation said that it is an “apolitical, independent, public, Canadian foundation committed to improving the lives of all people in Canada … (the foundation) is a public, Canadian charitable organization and a wholly independent entity from the Azrieli Group.”
The boycott also holds symbolic weight, Greenblatt said: “A public PACBI endorsement is a clear and vocal stance in solidarity with Palestine.”
Launched in 2004 by a group of Palestinian academics, PACBI is the cultural arm of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), an international, non-violent movement that demands Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.
BDS has faced criticism from groups like the Anti-Defamation League, which describes the movement as antisemitic. In 2016, the Canadian Parliament also voted to “reject” the BDS movement, and called upon the government to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote it. The motion stated that BDS promotes the “demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel,” and called upon the government “to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote (it).”
Asked about potential backlash, witzel told the Star that “conflict and conversation are inextricable from liberation.”
“Part of our commitment in signing on to PACBI is a commitment to trusting our audiences and stakeholders with this conversation.”
